Lightning Strikes

by Cass Sellars

  “Umm, yeah,” the blonde stammered, her eyes darting to Syd and back to Parker.

  Parker reached behind her and slid her fingers through Syd’s left hand and wrapped Syd’s arm around her waist. Sydney was momentarily stopped by the warm feeling washing over her skin. She tried to ignore the electricity that now prickled over her flesh.

  “Becky,” Parker said, “I think my girl here has something to say. You know, she needs to apologize to you.”

  Parker glanced behind her and Syd fell quickly into character, pulling her closer. She took the opportunity to appraise the way Parker felt under her fingers for no reason at all.

  “See, we have been having some ridiculous fights over the past few weeks and we said some things we didn’t mean the other night and, well, this one”—Parker leaned back against Syd’s torso, patting her cheek while feigning a most adoring gaze—“this one had a bit too much to drink and may have conducted herself inappropriately, right?” She patted Syd’s cheek again and in her best stage whisper said, “Say something, babycakes. Tell her how sorry you are.”

  Syd choked and cleared her throat, ridiculously entertained by her pretend girlfriend. “Um, yeah, I’m sorry, Becky. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have…I mean we shouldn’t have. I’m just really sorry things couldn’t be different. You’re a great girl and any other time…” She was desperately sorting through the conflicting sensations of her skin burning against Parker’s and crawling with the need to repel Becky Weaver.

  “That’s enough, dear.” Parker patted her cheek again and Syd fought the urge to hold the hand against her face. “So you see, Becky, I know that you two have a history and I understand that. It’s totally her fault and she is still working on making this right, but I wanted you to know that it wasn’t you—it was most definitely her and her notoriously poor judgment. Right, babycakes?”

  Syd smiled and clenched her teeth as she spoke into Parker’s ear. “Enough already. I wasn’t that bad.” To Becky, she said, “Thank you for understanding, Becky.” She tightened her arm around Parker’s waist and absently stroked a thumb across her ribs.

  Becky cleared her throat, straightening a bit. “Okay, well, it wasn’t a nice thing to do, Syd.” A forced pout came over her face. “I’ll see you around, I guess.” To Parker, she said, “You have your hands full with that one.”

  Becky drew her eyes over Syd and seemed to flip through the myriad of questions she wanted to ask. Instead, Becky turned back, marching through the door and down the walk.

  Both women stood silent and frozen until her Jeep’s headlights disappeared from sight.

  “What the heck was that?” Syd looked at Parker, stunned and thoroughly amused.

  “I have no idea.” Parker giggled as she released Syd’s body from hers. Sydney felt a chill created by the distance. “I just went with it. I know I would feel better if the woman who tossed me over was in a lot of trouble, at least.”

  Syd pushed her back through her door, laughing. “Babycakes? Yuck. And, by the way, no one in their right mind would toss you over.” The sentence hung over the moment as Parker moved toward the kitchen.

  “You have no idea,” Parker said quietly. “I think you owe me another glass, babycakes.” Her delivery was infinitely more playful than the look that now crossed her face.

  “Well, I believe I do.” Syd was truly enjoying this strange creature. “Thank you for that.” Syd tugged Parker against her in a spirited hug causing an unfamiliar rush to sneak through her veins. She knew that nothing more than friendship could ever come of whatever this was. Perhaps that was why she felt so relaxed around Parker.

  When they settled back onto the couch, Parker slipped off her shoes and wrapped her legs under her skirt. “So, what’s your great relationship story, now that your engagement’s off with that one?” Parker smiled at Syd while resting her chin on her knees.

  Syd shifted uncomfortably, not used to conversations pointed at her.

  “Well, not much to tell, really. I watched my mother pick my father to death and drive me insane until I left the house. I saw my dad spend his life working to support a woman who claimed he was never enough, that she never had enough. Therefore, I decided that marriage was an awful institution that no sane person should be in without armor and a lethal weapon. I suppose I have spent most of my life avoiding entanglements.” Sydney shocked herself by willfully revealing such details about her life.

  “I think we are all just waiting for lightning to strike.”

  Syd looked into her wine, not really believing that any such feeling could compel someone into a committed arrangement, but it sounded better than her actual plan, dedicated to terminal bachelorhood and one-night stands.

  “So have you never had a long term relationship?” Parker asked, not sounding judgmental in the least.

  “My only bona fide relationship lasted nineteen months with someone who was about five years older than me. She was a lab rat on one of my first reconstruction cases. She managed me—I guess that’s the best way to put it. I was young, did what she said, hung on her every word, and believed every promise. Which, of course, soundly bit me in the ass when I found out she was still secretly sleeping with her ex-girlfriend. Since then, I remain committed to my work and staying out of institutions. Oh, and as far away from my mother as possible.” Syd shrugged and sipped her wine, feeling a bit disconnected for a moment. Retelling her history simply reinforced her resolve to remain unencumbered by things that inevitably resulted in disappointment.

  “Wow. Do you see your mom now? Talk to her?” Parker looked at her intently.

  “Well, anytime there is a funeral I feel compelled to attend or anytime she needs to remind me that I am a dyke and that I should repent for embarrassing her, we speak. Actually she speaks at me. Otherwise, I choose to be insulted by strangers who never saw me spit up as a baby. It tends to hurt less.” The offhand delivery and words didn’t match the flash of pain and anger she tried to hide.

  “I’m sorry. That’s really awful.” Parker stared into her wine, swirling it around the bowl of the glass.

  “What about you? You want to tell me the story that landed you at the Pride the other night? I’ve never seen you there before.” Syd looked over her glass, happy to shift focus. She wasn’t used to connecting with anyone like this. It felt uncomfortable and inexplicably like breathing.

  Parker let out a long breath and then took another deep one as the words tumbled out. “We met twelve years ago at a New Year’s Eve party. We got engaged at the same party a year later. We got married in Boston ten years ago and I caught her cheating on me with some girl in our home, the night we were supposed to celebrate our tenth anniversary. I cried too much, sold our joint property, and cut her out of my life—in fairness, she kind of volunteered to go first, but anyway…” She attempted a lightness she didn’t feel. “We sold our house, I bought the loft, and I closed the loan. The next day I acted like a scared teenager while dancing with you, and here I am.” Parker quickly took a long drink, staring without focus at the rolled seam on the couch.

  “That was one dumb bitch,” Syd declared, looking deadly serious.

  “Huh?” Parker looked up at Syd.

  “Whoever could look into your eyes and make them hurt like I just saw them hurt has to be dumb or crazy or both.” Syd stared at her again.

  Parker drew a thin smile across her mouth, not really feeling like smiling. “Shit happens, I guess.” She tried a casual shrug. “Must be for a good reason, I hope. My friends, who you might have seen me with that night, say it’s because the next step can’t happen until you climb this one. So I’m climbing.” She lifted her glass in a toast and sipped in silence. Parker pushed the empty place inside away and redirected the conversation. “So, is Syd your real name?”

  Syd rolled her eyes and dropped her head back on the cushions. “Ugh. Do I have to say?”

  Parker nodded, smiling.

  “Victoria Sydney Hyatt.” Syd twisted her mouth into a s
neer. “Do I look like a Victoria? I’ve looked like a guy my whole life, even as a kid. So when my mom decided that beating me over the head with my sexuality was her favorite sport, I started going by Syd to piss her off even more, and there you have it. Part of me adores that she hates it.” Syd shifted again to face Parker more fully. “I will be sure to bring that up with my therapist, if I ever get one. How about you? Parker is an unusual name for a girly girl.”

  “Girly girl?” Parker reacted in mock horror, clutching at her invisible pearls. “I’ll have you know I own power tools and can change my own tire.” She pointed at Syd, making her laugh again. “My mother’s maiden name was Parker. They wanted a boy and I was clearly not, but they called me Parker anyway.”

  “Have they been around through all this shit? Did they help you move and all that?”

  “Nah, I try to keep the fallout from my life away from whatever sporadic conversation we may have. My mother sort of assumes that my relationships aren’t really relationships since they aren’t with a guy. She acts okay about other people’s gay children but she can’t really seem to stop being embarrassed by me. I keep to the easy topics like work and hobbies and stuff. My dad doesn’t say much at all.”

  They compared notes on coming out, first kisses, college flings, and career paths.

  “I really never had to come out,” Syd admitted, “since it’s fairly obvious I’m gay and have been since I was an embryo.”

  “Ha. I have to come out every day,” Parker said. “Everyone thinks I must just be missing the man of my dreams in a crowded shopping mall.” She shook her head ruefully. “Enough heavy talk. Can I have the grand tour of this amazing place?”

  Syd showed Parker the loft space, now an enclosed glass booth she accessed by pressing her thumb over an electronic reader. The room was packed with equipment and computers. Syd snapped earphones onto Parker and spun her chair toward a large wall-mounted screen. Pulling up an old closed case, she played her a video of a crime scene reenactment showing two shooters entering a grocery store in a rival gang’s territory.

  Sydney asked, “You okay? I don’t want this to upset you.”

  “No, I’m fine. It’s fascinating that you can make it look so real.” Parker studied Syd’s face. She took Syd’s offered hand and passed back the headphones before they moved back downstairs.

  At nearly one a.m., they lay on the flokati rug in the living room, trading stories about worst dates, first dates, and blind dates. Parker placed her glass on the nearby coffee table and rolled over to face Syd when she got quiet. “What are you thinking, babycakes?” she teased, glancing over the long lean body stretched out next to hers. She had become remarkably comfortable with this person who had terrified her a few hours ago.

  Syd laughed as she rolled in her direction and propped herself on her elbow. “I was thinking that I can’t believe we have been talking for six hours and I never once thought of the time.” Syd watched Parker pull her lip between her teeth. “I don’t usually do that. It kind of feels like we’ve known each other forever.” Syd rolled her eyes and groaned. “There was a shortage of clichés in our evening, so I wanted to be sure to remedy that.”

  “Me, too,” Parker answered softly and smiled. “I have really enjoyed being here, clichés and all.”

  “And you’re going to be useless at work tomorrow,” Syd declared, pointing at her watch.

  “No worries, I am on the big V,” Parker said triumphantly, falling onto her back and into the rug. “Vacation. The kitchen guys are on schedule to finish up. Therefore, I can be as grumpy and hungover as I want,” she announced with a smile. “However, you might make some bad guy hit the wrong neighborhood if I don’t get out of your hair.” She watched Sydney staring at her from the fluffy rug and reluctantly pulled herself up.

  Syd stood and took her glass to the kitchen, sliding it toward the edge of the sink. She looked back to find Parker leaning against the door, scanning the room again. She quietly approached, turning to stand in front of her.

  “Thank you for being here and for the Becky thing. I really enjoyed this.” Sydney stood very close to her.

  “Me, too.” The words came out on an unintended whisper. Syd drew her thumb across Parker’s jaw, sliding her fingers under her hair and tilting her face gently.

  Parker held her breath in an attempt to quell the thundering heartbeat against her eardrums. Syd lowered her mouth to brush against Parker’s. Parker allowed herself to fold against Sydney’s chest as she was pulled into her space and a stimulating connection to her mouth. Parker’s arms wrapped around Syd in a strangely familiar embrace.

  “I guess I should go now.” Parker’s voice shook when the singeing kiss ended and she exhaled raggedly.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Syd pulled back. “Good night, sexy girl.”

  As Syd ran her lips past Parker’s temple, Parker took in the smell of her skin, hair, and cologne as if she needed to memorize every nuance before she left.

  “Good night, babycakes.” Parker flashed an evil grin as she reluctantly pulled away, dragging her arm through Syd’s hand as she walked back across the hall. She heard Syd’s door slide closed behind her.

  Back inside Unit D, Parker turned off the lights and lay on the sofa. She pulled a blanket past her shoulders, still feeling Syd’s touch on her skin and in her memory. She found a blissful, sound sleep as she replayed the moments repeatedly in her mind.

  Chapter Seven

  Sydney leaned against Parker’s open doorway, watching as she heaved up ends of tall bookshelves in order to direct felt sliders under each corner. As she completed each set, she was systematically scooting the furniture across the floor and against an interior wall. Sydney comprised an appreciative audience of one as she assessed Parker’s determined routine and the lines of her figure as she worked.

  Two towers were already corralled into their final resting place and Parker bent to lift the last of them high enough to slip the felt moving pad underneath. As she heaved the wooden unit to the side, gravity asserted itself, leaning the unit forward and threatening to crash over her head.

  Syd jogged up behind and reached over her, catching the toppling shelf. Parker gasped.

  As Sydney settled the unit securely, Parker spun into her chest, still looking startled. Sydney held Parker’s eyes, absorbing her, while Parker remained framed in her arms.

  “I heard my gorgeous neighbor was just about to be crushed by furniture and I just couldn’t let that happen.” Syd winked at her playfully.

  Parker caught her breath and began laughing uncontrollably. “Why do I always turn into a nervous idiot around you?”

  “I happen to think you are an adorable idiot.” She smiled down at Parker, her gaze lingering on Parker’s intense blue eyes. The memory of her mouth on Parker’s was incredibly fresh. Sydney Hyatt, terminal player, didn’t experience these feelings—ever.

  “Such a charmer.” Parker laid her hand on the center of Syd’s chest, and Syd’s skin warmed under her touch.

  “Ahem.” Allen walked up to the duo with a curious look on his face.

  “Oh. Allen, this is my neighbor, Sydney Hyatt, she lives across the hall.” Parker gestured out her entry door. “Sydney, this is Allen Stevens, my best friend and architect extraordinaire.”

  Sydney reluctantly moved away from Parker to shake Allen’s hand. “Wow, an architect who runs his own job? I’m impressed.”

  Allen laughed. “Don’t be. It’s self-preservation. I want to make sure the lovely Ms. Duncan doesn’t run off my contractors.”

  “Whatever, Allen. I am a gem to work with.” Parker affected a pout. To Sydney, she said, “Look how far they are already.” She turned Sydney around by placing her arm around her waist.

  Sydney distractedly dropped her hand to curve around Parker’s body as if it happened regularly.

  “See? It’s practically done,” Parker said.

  Syd squeezed her absently in response. Glancing back to Allen, she said, “It does really look g
reat.”

  “Thanks, that’s kind of you,” Allen replied.

  Syd stepped away and turned to face Parker, tapping her finger playfully on the end of her nose. “Back to the grind I go, meeting in ten minutes.”

  Noting that Syd was wearing the same jeans and tank top from the night before, Parker asked, “Did you work all night?”

  Sydney nodded. “Such is the life of a crime-animation genius.” She smiled and hugged Parker tightly. “I’ll check on you later. Nice to meet you, Allen.”

  “And you,” Allen offered, still looking puzzled.

  After hearing the neighboring door slide shut, Allen spun to face a still-grinning Parker.

  “Spill,” he demanded, “and stop drooling.”

  “What are you talking about? She’s just really nice and invited me over last night for wine, that’s all. It was fun and kind of relaxing.”

  “Uh-huh.” He grinned at her. “And not bad to look at either, right?”

  She punched him playfully in the arm. “You of all people know that relationships are not in my future, so not to worry. You should be happy that I’m expanding my circle. And the best thing about her is she has never heard the name Dayne Grant.” She turned back to empty another box, still smiling.

  By late afternoon, the kitchen was complete, save some touch-ups and the elusive appliances. The electrical crew was finishing the final terminations, as the plumber set the shower pan in the bathroom readying the space for tile in the morning.

  Parker was unreasonably thrilled to see a new white toilet headed up her stairs before carrying seventeen empty cardboard boxes to the recycler.

  Allen left for home and the crew had tidied up for the day. Parker was just heading back through the foyer as Sydney stepped out. “So, how’s progress? When do I get a gourmet dinner?” She smiled.

  Dusty smudges decorated Parker’s clothes and she shyly brushed at the mess. “Come in and see for yourself.” She guided Sydney by the arm into the open space. “And dinner will have to wait until I can take a proper shower”—she looked down at her dirty shorts and wrinkled oversized T-shirt for emphasis—“and that won’t be for at least another couple of days.” Crinkling her nose as she looked up at Syd, she wondered why she still felt flushed when she found herself near her engaging neighbor.